| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | OVERNIGHT IN UKRAINE — WaPo: "Outmanned Ukrainian forces are holding on to their capital after hours of street fighting that included explosions and bursts of gunfire. Smoke was billowing from the sites of some clashes, but as the Kremlin assault entered its third day, Kyiv was still in Ukrainian government hands. "Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY said that fighting continues in many cities across the country and that the fate of the nation is 'being decided right now.' He posted a video of himself at daybreak Saturday, unshaven, on the capital's streets, appearing resolved to remain in Kyiv even though Western officials have warned that Russia plans to capture or kill him. He said in a video posted at midday that Ukraine was 'successfully repelling' the Russian attacks." In a statement out this morning, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN authorized an additional $350 million in military assistance "for immediate support to Ukraine's defenses." IF YOU READ ONE THING ABOUT UKRAINE TODAY — Make it this first-person essay, "Putin's Miscalculation," by Zoya Sheftalovich, a contributing editor for POLITICO Europe. She was born in Soviet Ukraine, before moving to Australia after the fall of the USSR. A taste: "Russians know how to suffer, of course. They are used to it. Famine, war, death — these are not hypothetical, far-away, historical things. Even those born as recently as in the '80s remember being cold and hungry, remember empty shelves and petrol pumps. But during those Soviet years, Russians were suffering for what many saw as the great good. "Will Russians suffer for [President VLADIMIR] PUTIN and his cronies? Will they suffer for a man who lives in a golden palace, and who hasn't been seen for days? How long will Russians continue buying into this war — a war they know Putin started, despite what their TVs might be telling them? How long will they watch videos of Ukrainian soldiers telling Russian warships to go fuck themselves in their common tongue? "Ukrainians, in the meantime, are suffering for freedom." SCOTUS POLITICS — Judge KETANJI BROWN JACKSON was always the most obvious choice to be President JOE BIDEN's choice for the Supreme Court. She clerked for the man she would replace, Justice STEPHEN BREYER. Her background in criminal defense and public interest law made her a favorite of many Democrats. Indeed, she'd be the first public defender to serve on the court. Jackson also got major points on the left for penning opinions rejecting DONALD TRUMP's sweeping claims of executive privilege during the House investigation into his dealings with Ukraine and the D.C. Circuit decision that denied his effort to block White House records from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot. And she was the most likely to receive all 50 votes from Democrats. The left grumbled over South Carolina Judge MICHELLE CHILDS' resume, especially her time at a corporate law firm. Had she managed to win the unanimous support of Democrats, it would have happened grudgingly, given how negatively progressives reacted to her potential nomination. At the beginning of the month, when asked about the possible choices, Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) said: "You want somebody who is going to be reflective of the needs of working families and understands that we are moving towards an oligarchy in this country." Now, Senate Democrats are pretty optimistic that Jackson will unite the caucus, our Senate ace Burgess Everett reports : "Given the party's success over the past year at confirming lower-level judges and the dearth of defections, [Senate Majority Leader CHUCK] SCHUMER said in a statement to POLITICO that he believes 'that unity will continue as we move forward with Judge Jackson's Supreme Court nomination.'" As Burgess points out, it will still be a grueling six weeks leading into Easter break for Democrats to get Jackson confirmed.
| | | | A message from Amazon: Getting great healthcare benefits was Luv-Luv's top priority during her job search. That's why she chose Amazon. "Amazon has allowed me to live a comfortable life," she said. Thanks to Amazon's starting wage of at least $15 an hour and comprehensive benefits, she lives life on her own terms. | | | The flip side of progressive enthusiasm about Jackson, of course, is the likelihood that, unlike Childs, Biden's pick will likely receive scant GOP support. Both South Carolina Republican senators, LINDSEY GRAHAM and TIM SCOTT, were publicly supportive of Childs and signaled they'd be a "yes" if she were the nominee, possibly making up for any defections from the left. Both issued statements signaling their disappointment, with Graham writing that Jackson's nomination "means the radical Left has won President Biden over yet again." FWIW: When Jackson was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court less than a year ago, she received three GOP votes, including from Graham. AND A SIDE NOTE: If Jackson gets confirmed on a party-line vote, Democrats would celebrate the first woman of color to serve as VP, KAMALA HARRIS, breaking the tie in the Senate. One place where we're not seeing consternation over the selection of Jackson is from Democrats in the pro-Childs camp. Even while pushing the South Carolina judge, folks went to great lengths to make sure they weren't pitting the two frontrunners against each other. And since Biden's announcement, there's been nothing but praise for Jackson. The most closely watched reaction to Jackson was that of House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.), a key Biden ally and the person who gets the credit for extracting Biden's promise to nominate a Black woman to begin with. Clyburn was quick to praise Biden's pick in a statement and defended her against Graham's criticism. "I do not see Judge Brown Jackson as being radical at all," Clyburn told reporters. Others who lobbied for Childs reacted similarly. Their reasoning? The possibility of getting any qualified Black woman on the highest court in the land is too important to not jump on board. A South Carolina politician who knows Childs, TAMEIKA ISAAC DEVINE, summed it up this way: "For most people, especially Black women, we look at this being our time and that it is our time to have a Black woman. So no matter whether your personal pick got selected or not, any of those women are very qualified. And it's a great moment of pride for all of us to have a Black woman nominated to be on the highest court in the land." MORE SCOTUS READING: — "Four Black women became classmates, roommates and lifelong sisters. One of them is now a historic nominee for the Supreme Court," by The 19th's Errin Haines — "That time Jackson shredded Trump in a federal court ruling," by Josh Gerstein — "How a High School Debate Team Shaped Ketanji Brown Jackson," by NYT's Patricia Mazzei in Pinecrest, Fla.
| | | | A message from Amazon: $15 an hour and comprehensive benefits give Luv-Luv and Amazon employees like her the freedom to do more. | | | Good Saturday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels , Ryan Lizza. BIG NEWS ON MASKING — "CDC says Americans can now go unmasked in many parts of the country," by NPR's Pien Huang and Carmel Wroth: "Under the new guidance, nearly 70% of the U.S. population lives in an area considered to be low or medium risk, and residents there are advised they can go indoors without masks. The CDC recommends continued mask use in communities where serious cases of COVID-19 are straining the health system." NEW AT THE TOP — Puck's Dylan Byers reports that CHRIS LICHT will succeed JEFF ZUCKER as the next leader of CNN. Licht, currently in charge of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," "will run CNN as head of news for Warner Bros. Discovery … Unlike Zucker, his purview will not extend to sports." BIDEN'S SATURDAY — The president (from Wilmington, Del.) and VP will hold a secure call with their national security team on Russia/Ukraine at 10 a.m.
| | | | HAPPENING MONDAY: A WOMEN RULE INTERVIEW: Join Cecilia Rouse, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and Morning Money author Kate Davidson for a conversation exploring President Biden's economic agenda, the administration's plans to tackle financial losses women suffered during the pandemic and what it will take to elevate more women to leadership ranks in the U.S. economy. SUBSCRIBE HERE. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks Friday after President Joe Biden selected her as his Supreme Court nominee. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 9 THINGS WE READ THAT STUCK WITH US … 1. WaPo's Ashley Parker, Shane Harris, Michael Birnbaum and John Hudson provide an inside look at the White House's "last-ditch attempts to stop Putin in Ukraine. … In the early evening of Thursday, Feb. 10, Biden's national security team — a group that included Cabinet secretaries and other senior advisers — got an urgent message: They were needed in the Situation Room for a hastily convened meeting on the escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine. "The 13 days that followed those impromptu Situation Room huddles provide a revealing window into the Biden administration's unsuccessful scramble to stop Putin from launching a full-scale invasion, as explosions now echo across Ukraine and Russian forces close in on the capital, Kyiv." 2. Reuters: "A decision to cut Russia off from the global SWIFT payment system will be taken in a matter of days, the governor of a central bank within the euro zone told Reuters on Saturday. 'SWIFT is just a matter of time, very short time, days,' the central bank governor, who asked not to be named, said. 'Is it sufficient? No. Is it necessary? Absolutely. Sanctions only make sense if there are costs for both sides and this will be costly,' the central banker added." 3. "As the war between Russia and Ukraine intensifies, China is betting that it comes out the winner," Phelim Kine reports. "In the past week, Beijing has carefully calibrated its position, opening in neutral then going all-in behind Moscow. … "Beijing isn't cheering on a land war in Europe, but it's not altogether unhappy that the result might be to divert U.S. attention and resources allocated to the Indo-Pacific, where Washington has been aggressively working to offset a perceived growing Chinese regional security threat." 4. "Rapidly evolving digital markets have created new ways to subvert heavy-duty penalties that were designed to cut off wealthy Russians and state-backed institutions from the U.S. financial system in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine," writes Sam Sutton. "With Moscow now a hotbed for high-risk exchanges and mixing services — which scramble the ability to track the flow of transactions on public blockchains — crypto marketplaces could blunt attempts to freeze Russian assets." 5. "Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shocked the former Soviet satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe, drawing strong condemnation even from the region's most pro-Kremlin politicians," AP's Karel Janicek reports from Prague. "For some of the countries that fled the Soviet bloc following a series of anti-communist revolutions more than 30 years ago, footage of tanks and troops rolling in to punish a nation trying to pursue its own independent course looks painfully familiar. Two until now major pro-Russian voices in the European Union, Czech President MILOS ZEMAN and Hungary's Prime Minister VIKTOR ORBAN, didn't mince their words in criticizing Moscow's most aggressive action since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979." 6. "Derision and disparagement of transgender people, and even of those perceived as their allies, are proliferating on the airwaves and in statehouses across the country as 2022 election campaigns heat up," report AP's Jeff McMillan and Marc Levy . "It's a classic strategy of finding a 'wedge issue' that motivates a political base, political observers say. "'They are just weaponizing the fact that most everyday Americans don't yet realize that they know someone who is transgender,' said RODRIGO HENG-LEHTINEN, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. 'It is easy to fall for a myth about a group of people you don't know, and that's just human.'" 7. NYT's Adam Nagourney looks at how RFK Jr. is roiling the Kennedy clan with his anti-vaccine crusade: "Mr. Kennedy's rise as the face of the vaccine resistance movement has tested as never before the solidarity of a family that has for decades remained resolute in the face of tragedy and scandal. It has rattled the Hollywood and entertainment circles that he inhabits, while showing how the vaccine debate is upending traditional political alliances. "And it has left the Kennedys and his friends anguished and mystified about the dramatic turn in the often troubled life of a man who was a pallbearer at his father's funeral when he was 14, who emerged from drug addiction to become one of the leading environmentalists in the country and who is regarded as among the most politically gifted Kennedys of his generation." 8. "Some of the presidential records recovered from former president Donald Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago are so sensitive they may not be able to be described in forthcoming inventory reports in an unclassified way, two people familiar with the matter said Friday," report WaPo's Jacqueline Alemany (who's been all over this story) and Tom Hamburger. 9. "Frustration is boiling over at a top Washington aerospace and defense trade association following a series of policy losses in the first year of the Biden administration," Lee Hudson and Daniel Lippman report. "Boeing, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems — and potentially other firms — are going so far as to withhold annual dues to the Aerospace Industries Association over what they consider a lack of leadership from ERIC FANNING, the group's CEO and president, according to emails obtained by POLITICO."
| | | | A message from Amazon:   At least $15 an hour. "Amazon is here for us." | | | CLICKER — "The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics," edited by Matt Wuerker — 16 keepers GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Ryan Lizza: — "'The Ghost of Kyiv' is the first urban legend of Russia's invasion of Ukraine," by Task & Purpose's Jared Keller: "I want to believe." — "Calamity Again," by The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum: "No nation is forced to repeat its past. But something familiar is taking place in Ukraine." — "Inside the Tenderloin, can a city fix a neighborhood while staying true to its values?" by WaPo's Scott Wilson: "San Francisco, one of the bluest cities in America, has leaders struggling to balance Democratic principles with practicality." — "The Pandemic Interpreter," by Sam Adler-Bell in New York magazine: "Why are so many liberals mad at David Leonhardt?" — "Is There Such a Thing as Black Thought?" by Reginald Dwayne Betts in the NYT Magazine: "In an uncategorizable new musical, 'Black No More,' the rapper Tariq Trotter investigates Black identity — a matter that has occupied his whole career." — "Ben Stiller Sees the World Differently Now," by Ryan D'Agostino in Esquire: "He's been pretty amazing your whole life. Then things started to crumble—his marriage, his work, his health. But now? With Severance, and all that the future holds? Everything is very much coming back together again." — "Tragedy in Baffin Bay," by Mark Jenkins in Outside: "Mark Jenkins chose to skip a risky adventure with his friends. Twenty-five years later, he's still haunted by what happened in his absence." — From the archives: "Putin's new Ukraine essay reveals imperial ambitions," by Peter Dickinson at the Atlantic Council
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke at the America First Political Action Conference, a white supremacist conference meeting in Orlando. Kevin McCarthy is certain to get questions about how he tolerates something like this when the House is back in session next week. "The Simpsons" joined swelling public support of Ukraine. Terrell Jermaine Starr conducted an interview in a moving car in Kyiv with a man who was going to pick up arms against Russia. NEW NOMINEES — The White House announced Biden will nominate Jay Shambaugh as undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, William Duncan as ambassador to El Salvador, and Lesslie Viguerie as ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. MEDIA MOVE — Imani Bentham is now director of engagement and membership strategy at National Journal. She most recently ran her online business management company providing systems and strategy consulting for coaches and consultants of marginalized genders. ENGAGED — Colin Hensel of the Herald Group and Rachel McPherson of Red Edge got engaged Friday at the Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Va. The couple met in September 2019. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) … Corry Bliss … U.N. World Food Programme's David Beasley (65) … Arden Farhi … POLITICO's Katie Ellsworth … Carrie Meadows … Amanda Alpert Loveday … A'shanti Gholar … Ashli Scott Palmer … Li Zhou … Courtney Paul … Alan Rosenblatt … Bassima Alghussein … Peter Scheer … Ronald Lauder … Reuters' Nicholas Brown … Maia Estes … Rokk Solutions' John Brandt and Brigitta Gegenheimer … Marisel Morales … Zara Haq … Clay Doherty … Fae Jencks … Bruce Cohen … Kathy Park … George Agurkis THE SHOWS ( Full Sunday show listings here): CBS "Face the Nation": Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) … House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) … retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster … David Malpass … U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield. CNN "State of the Union": U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield … Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) … NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Panel: retired Lt. Gen. James Clapper and Beth Sanner. Panel: Alyssa Farah Griffin, Susan Glasser, Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) and retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. NBC "Meet the Press": U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield … Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) … Richard Engel reporting from Ukraine and Keir Simmons from Russia. Ukraine panel: Kori Schake and Clint Watts. Panel: Jeremy Bash, Andrea Mitchell, Danielle Pletka and Kristen Welker. MSNBC "The Sunday Show": Max Boot … Rashad Robinson … House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) … Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). FOX "Fox News Sunday," guest-anchored by Harris Faulkner: Condoleezza Rice … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Panel: Peter Doocy, Jonathan Turley, Juan Williams and Charles Hurt. ABC "This Week": Press secretary Jen Psaki … Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) … Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova … Ukraine/Russia crisis reporting on the ground. Panel: Jonathan Karl, Rachel Scott, Donna Brazile and Sarah Isgur. Gray TV "Full Court Press": Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) … Jon Decker. CNN "Inside Politics": Panel: Julia Ioffe, Seung Min Kim, Molly Ball, Jeff Zeleny, David Sanger and Laura Coates. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
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